Disaster Preparedness in Nigeria

Abstract

The River Ogunpa flood disaster was an event which created difficulties from every conceivable angle and provided many of the problems to be experienced in disaster management generally. It should be emphasized that every state hospital should have a disaster plan so that one could assume that it is adequately prepared for major accidents. Some of the teaching hospitals in Nigeria have disaster plans. However, the mere presence of a paper plan did not guarantee that it was up to date, comprehensive and understood by all staff concerned, in some of the major disasters which recently occurred in Nigeria. This article highlights some of the major natural and man-made disasters in our country, the magnitude of the damage done, factors affecting the response of the nation to the disasters, as well as some of the major deficiencies in our disaster plans.